Leaderboard

We are lucky to live in our ideal place. We moved here when we retired.

The Travellers Rest was only just getting into serious food catering about the time I left Apperknowle area. That is a very generous serving even by local standards. Meeting went OK except I got a horrendous leg cramp half way through and had to leave for a bit until it went away. I was relieved to find out that discussions and plans are already under way about the mink, but that was at a higher level and we on the ground were not aware. Unfortunately there is nowhere that mink can be released where they would not cause an eco crisis. They eat everything and have no predators or real competitors. Otters will push them out of an area but we have none on the reserve as far as we know. In their native habitat of North America and Canada, the environment is harsher in winter and there are other predators and competitors so not so many survive. Here in UK they just multiply. So they have to be trapped and very quickly shot at point blank range with an air pistol. The traps have electronic signals so it is known immediately when one is caught. I don't like the idea but they wipe out populations of waders, ducks, any bird near water, and are mainly responsible for the near extermination of water voles. We have a few bitterns and water rail breeding on the reserve and need to protect them.

I know Philip would like to live in Scotland, west coast where his parents used to live..I'd like to live near the sea, but the Aegean not the North Sea! I would never want to live down south again, I'm a Northerner by birth and preference but boy it gets cold on the coast in Yorkshire. We both enjoyed Northumberland, so maybe Bamburgh area? That pub lunch cost 7.95 for Philip's giant portion Yantan. If we'd realised it was going to be so much we'd have just ordered that and shared. Last time we ate in a pub in the south we ordered ham egg and chips. You could count the chips and see through the ham, if they'd tried serving that up round here they'd have been lynched!